Managing the Anxious Behaviors of Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Wednesday, June 28, 20172:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET Location: Webinars

Webinar Descriptions:

This talk will provide an overview of a cognitive behavioral treatment (Facing Your Fears) to reduce anxiety in children/adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). We will carefully review the child and parent components of the treatment so that by the end of the webinar, participants would be familiar with specific strategies to reduce anxiety symptoms in this population. We will also describe how the program is currently being adapted for adolescents with ASD/IDD.

Co-Hosted by AUCDs Mental Health Aspects of I/DD and Autism SIGs.

Presenters:

Dr. Judy Reaven is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Colorado, School of Medicine (United States) and the Research Director of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic of JFK Partners, a University Center of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD). Along with her colleagues, she has developed an evidenced-based treatment intervention for anxiety symptoms in children with ASD (Facing Your Fears: Group Therapy for Managing Anxiety in Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders; Reaven et al. 2011). She has co-authored a number of peer-reviewed publications, including five treatment trials examining the initial efficacy of Facing Your Fears (Hepburn et al. 2015; Reaven et al., 2012; Reaven et al. 2012; Reaven et al. 2014; Reaven et al. 2009).

Dr. Audrey Blakeley-Smith is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Colorado, School of Medicine. Dr. Blakeley-Smith co-authored the treatment manual, Facing Your Fears, described above that was published by Paul H. Brooks in 2011. Dr. Blakeley-Smith is also an investigator on a study funded by the Organization of Autism Research that is designed to modify the Facing Your Fears program for adolescents with Intellectual Disability and Autism.